Head that is easy for kids to flush?

[Scott Berg]

Listen to Peg (Hi Peg!); if you are starting from scratch it's hard to beat the Raritan Marine Elegance models. We've installed over 50 of them and customers LOVE them. Great flushing efficiency and very reliable. Actually easier to overhaul than a PH II (the only under $1500 manual we install). As noted, Defender has great pricing on Raritan as does Hodges Marine; West will match either.

[anacapaisland42]

Be careful what you wish for........our 4 year old daughter completely filled a previously empty holding tank on a 2 day weekend!!
Bill

Originally Posted by sailingunity

We have young kids aboard, 4 under the age of 8. Our boat has two heads, the main head has a raritan PH2 and aft head has a jabsco twist-n-lock. I know the PH2 is lauded for its reliability, but its hard for the kids to flush so they tend to use the aft head more often (plus the main head is the one connected to the holding tank). We'd like to "upgrade" the main head to something easier to flush. I've heard good things about Lavac, are there any other recommendations? Not opposed to electric, but I do prefer to keep things simple if possible.

[Davidhoy]

Originally Posted by peghall

The Model K is indeed a fine toilet...and with a $1500 price tag, it should not only do all that but its seat should also rise up and stand at attention while it sings"Columbia the Gem of the Ocean!"

--Peggie

Peggie, you sure do have a way with words ;-)

[Pizzazz]

Originally Posted by anacapaisland42

Be careful what you wish for........our 4 year old daughter completely filled a previously empty holding tank on a 2 day weekend!!
Bill

I have an 18 Gallo waste tank which usually lasts a few weeks. When the kids come on board the red light comes on at the end of the first day

I like the Jabsco manual toilet for it's small size and simplicity. Mine is converted to fresh water flush from the sink. When I have the kids over, it is always left on the wet position, so all they have to do is pump and open the faucet which they do to wash their hands anyway. The key is to have only one action, otherwise the kids get confused and resist.

I believe the next best thing would be an electric fresh water Jabsco.

SV Pizzazz

[HopCar]

Ditto on the Sea Era conversion kit. Just re-use your old bowl and seat, everything else is new. The fresh water version should be a little cheaper than the salt water version as it doesn’t need a new supply pump. It flushes with pressurized water from your existing water system.

The Groco K is a magnificent toilet but not particularly child friendly. By the way, it uses a piston pump, not a diaphragm. The now discontinued Groco EB used a nice big diaphragm.

[tarian]

Just my thoughts , I replaced 2 hand pump old Jabesco toilets with 2 new Electric, and would not look back, easy to use , a bit noisy, but chops up all the waste if going into holding tank , and my 9 year old and friends use it no problems , in and out
Easy to install using existing pipe work and just very simply electricals, I did all the works.

[hellosailor]

I would echo the thoughts that a Lavac, or any vacuum device, isn't for kids. There could be a remote chance, like the kid that sat on a pool drain and got eviscerated about 15 years ago, of something going very badly wrong.

With four kids under 8, the youngest might be 3? 4? and at that point, a bucket, better known as an alleged composting head, starts to sound like the best answer, since the worst they can do it fill it, and the worst you'd need to do is empty it again.

Next step up might be something with an electric flush, to eliminate any "counting" with pump strokes and any question of clearing the lines. But regardless of the head, I think some one-on-one time with each child showing them what to do, and reinforcing that with "Show me what you have to do" for a couple of weeks, is really going to be important, to make sure they've got it down right.

And some bleach and veterinary sleeves, because sooner or later....

[Tillsbury]

I swapped out the day head on my boat from a standard Jabsco manual to an electric Jabsco "quiet flush" model. Very easy to do, far tidier installation, no weird spaces for muck to collect, and a lot simpler mechanism too. And it's fresh water flush, so no smells. And if you can fit in a "standard size" one it's a lot nicer than the tiny compact versions.

Jabsco have three types -- the standard electric (sounds like a concrete breaker running), the "quiet flush" (twice the price), and the "deluxe" one (three times the price, but with a cover over everything so it looks like a standard domestic device).

The admiral requested that I did it, but for kids (we have a bunch) it is absolutely brilliant. Manual flush heads are simply impossible to operate properly for very small children. The other two on the boat are still manuals, but I might well swap the master ensuite one out too.

Having the "quiet flush" rather than the "deluxe" means that we can have a single spare motor and it's easy to replace as one unit -- there's nothing else to go wrong. The deluxe ones, depending upon how you fit them, can be a bit trickier to get to for repairs.

[hellosailor]

"the "deluxe" one (three times the price, but with a cover over everything so it looks like a standard domestic device)"
Same thing with home toilets. If you want one that has a smooth base, hides all the hard-to-clean complex shaping down under, then they kill you on the price. I suspect that all toilet makers know they've pretty much got a captive market, if the customer wants anything more than a hole in the floor. (Which would still beat the tiny excuse for a head that so many boats were sold with!)

[conchaway]

bucket on deck -- then dump overboard when not at dock, or adult pours bucket into toilet when away

[hamburking]

When my kids were little, I told them to just close the lid. Then I would pump it out after they were all done. After changing diapers for several years, this was a no-brainer.

[Yellowjacket]

Lavac is bullet proof and can be pumbed to an electric pump or manual diaphram pump or both (in case the electric goes out at an inconvenient time).

Ten pumps, count to five, five pumps. An 8 year-old can do that. However, the next 8 year old has to wait a couple of minutes for the suction to dissapate before he/she can raise the lid, and THAT might be an issue. There is often synchronicity in certain age groups.

Salt crystals from flushing with salt water are a pain, though preventable. Saltwater that sits in the plumbing stinks. Sounds like you have capacity to use fresh, though some of us hate to waste it. I plumbed my Lavac to use water from a shower sump, thereby using that water twice.

Many answers, probably all good …

(Peg has me right, I live aboard about half-time).

[Cpt Mark]

I just put int the Elegance with the full size seat on a compact frame so it fits easily. It is one of the most awesome add ons I've ever installed. Everyone who comes on board loves it. Cannot recommend it highly enough

[jkindredpdx]

Easiest to use is a urine separating composting toilet...

[Neziak]

We’ve had two electric Jabsco Quiet Flushes since the kids were 4 and 7 without problems yet. One is salt and the other one is fresh. Have no complaints about noise.

Our instructions to the kids (and visiting adults) is to use no more than 6 pieces of paper at a time (we buy the economy disintegrating recycled type) and flush until the bowl is empty, repeat as many times as necessary. Then once they are done, fill the bowl up to the 3/4 mark and empty, repeat 2 more times. The volume of water for the last 3 flushes is a little more than the volume in the pipe between the macerater and the holding tank. Figuring this out made a good home school project!

We never use the top automatic button, always filling the bowl and emptying it separately. Using the automatic function, there is no way of knowing how much water goes through every second and kids have a way of counting time quickly and skipping numbers whereas 3 bowls is fool proof.

The only minor issue we’ve had is that the freshwater toilet is slow to fill (happens intermittently) even though we have ample water pressure. We’ve replaced the solenoid and valve and have the same issue. This means that the kids can loose patience when filling the bowl. Usually not a problem as the fresh is in our cabin and the salt is by their cabins.

We’ve not had any problems with smell from the salt toilet but we religiously flush it through with fresh water using the shower every few days.

Anybody have a solution to slow fill using the Jabsco fresh water? I suspect the solenoid isn’t up to the job and not opening the valve fully.